In India, community engagement and ownership are crucial to achieving universal sanitation coverage, and AKDN pays strong attention to this at every stage. Women are key drivers of change in their communities and are helping spread messages on the importance of safe sanitation and hygiene practices. Photo: AKDN / Christopher Wilton-Steer. Learn More
AKDN has a long history in India, dating back to the establishment of the first Aga Khan school in Mundra, Gujarat, in 1905. Today, eight of AKDN’s 11 agencies are operational in the country, implementing a range of programmes, in diverse fields from water and sanitation to maternal health and family nutrition, sustainable agriculture to disaster risk reduction and response, cultural restoration to school improvement.
These initiatives include schools and educational centres, a 162-bed multi-specialty acute care ISO-certified hospital in Mumbai, a rural support programme that has benefited over 1.5 million people in over 2,500 villages across the states of Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh and Bihar, and the restoration of a World Heritage site in the nation’s capital.
